Emotional Intelligence mini-series

Emotional Intelligence mini-series

Happy Summer everyone! Whether you are working or off for the summer, I hope this post finds you curious and interested in Emotional Intelligence.

This post is part 1 of a 7-part blog mini-series on Emotional Intelligence, a subject that is interesting to many of us. This post will be an introduction and the subsequent posts will move on to more detail topics.
The interest in Emotional Intelligence (EQ) has increased significantly over the past few years. Having high EQ is relevant and helpful to most of us, no matter what our day-to-day lives are about. No matter whether you are a volunteer, an employee, a leader, a parent, a friend, a teammate, a sibling, a child, an expat or living in your own home town, we can all benefit from increasing our EQ. There are many articles and books on the subject demonstrating that good leadership is not only IQ, but also EQ. Some authors propose that good leadership is more about EQ than IQ. There are ROI calculations from companies that have invested in increasing the EQ of their management and employees. High emotional intelligence is also, and perhaps more compelling for most of us, associated with being more effective, having deeper relationships and achieving our goals. For me, as an expat in a culture that is far different from my own background, having high emotional intelligence helps me to adapt culturally. There is a strong case for increasing our emotional intelligence.

But, what is Emotional Intelligence? Can you define it? It is so much more than ‘being nice to other people’ or ‘controlling your emotions’. Emotional Intelligence has been defined by many and in many ways. I’m not sure there is agreement on the exact definition. One definition is (from The EQ Edge by Steven J. Stein, PhD and Howard E. Book M.D.): a set of emotional and social skills that influence the way we perceive and express ourselves, develop and maintain social relationships, cope with challenges, and use emotional information in an effective and meaningful way.

There are several models for emotional intelligence. Four of those are: EQi 2.0/EQ360, TESI, MSCEIT and EISA. There are several books that discuss the relative benefits and drawbacks of each of these models. The model I am most familiar with is the EQi2.0 and an overview is shown in the attachment. It is primarily a self-assessment that is both valid and reliable and there are many activities and exercises available to work on each of the areas and sub-dimensions. To find out where you are strong and which are your focus areas, the EQi2.0 assessment is readily available. In this mini-series, I will dive into some detail about each of the main areas and share with you exercises and activities. Speak soon!